S048 - Hayes, Rebekah [DECEASED]

#1

Name: Rebekah Hayes
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Grade: 12
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Hiking, nature, poetry, cheerleading, lawn mowing.

Appearance: Rebekah is a Caucasian girl with dark hair which appears black or brown depending on the lighting. She stands at a moderate 5’7'' and weighs 135 pounds. She has a rather lithe build with a thin patina of muscle, the sort built by time working outdoors instead of in a gym. Her otherwise pale skin is perpetually tanned from long hours outside and laced with faded scars and scrapes around the knees, shins, and elbows. On most days, she has grass stains on her hands and forearms.

Rebekah’s face is oval-shaped, without much definition in her cheekbones or chin. Her face is not particularly expressive, save for the blue-grey eyes fringed by long, dark lashes. She lights up and is emotive when talking with others, but at most other times she wears a blank expression, save for her eyes. They are always looking about even when the rest of her face is expressionless, watchful and studious. Their curious gleam belies the intense scrutiny taking place inside her head. Rebekah has a delicate nose and generally soft features. Her mouth is slightly on the narrow side, with thin lips that look pensive, but draw slightly upwards at the edges. This gives her a feminine appearance somewhat at odds with her tomboyish demeanor. She rarely wears more than basic makeup, unless she’s going somewhere with the other cheerleaders. Her shoulder-length dark hair is slightly wavy, and is almost always tied back in a loose ponytail with a scrunchie. If some stray hairs slip free, she often won’t bother trying to tuck them back into place. Her bangs are choppy and uneven, and she is overdue for a haircut.

Rebekah doesn’t have bad posture, but she tends to slouch a bit when she sits. She almost always wears long collared or flannel shirts, with a graphic tee or band shirt underneath. Recently, she’s tried to take advice from her fellow cheerleaders and dress a bit more fashionably but often reverts to her default. She prefers dark purples, blues, and blacks for her long shirts, and rolls the sleeves up to the elbow. She invariably wears jeans to school; each individual pair of which can be identified by a unique pattern of grass stains.

On the day of the abduction Rebekah was wearing a tight-fitted purple Gore-tex ski jacket and loose-fitting black ski pants, overtop of black yoga pants and a white tank top. She also wore fuzzy red and white striped mittens and a light grey neck scarf, and had a black toque stashed in her pocket in case it got much colder. On her feet she wore dark grey off-brand Timberland style winter boots.

Biography: Rebekah was born on November 2nd, 2003, the only child of Shawn and Katherine Hayes. Shawn and Katherine were high-school sweethearts. Shawn was originally from Idaho, a farm kid who moved to Massachusetts in junior year. Katherine was a cheerleader from a well-to-do family. They were an unlikely couple who bonded over a mutual enjoyment of horseback riding and love of the outdoors. They soon fell in love and were married in 2001, shortly after graduation.

The two believed that their love would be enough to overcome the differences between them. It wasn’t. Shawn was a simple man without ambitions and Katherine was accustomed to a lifestyle beyond their means and had no problem racking up debt. Shawn was offered an office job through Katherine’s connections, but he was unsuited for it and became deeply depressed. He resigned after a few months and took a lower-paying job with the parks service. Katherine had a poor work ethic and resisted getting a job, but took an administrative assistant position to keep the household afloat. This became a serious point of contention, and within months the couple were arguing constantly. Katherine’s family always thought she could do better and frequently encouraged her to get a divorce.

Katherine became pregnant in 2002, stabilizing the marriage briefly. A new baby gave the couple a common cause to bond over. Rebekah was a happy child, and Shawn and Katherine were kind parents. Katherine opted to stay at home with Rebekah rather than hiring a nanny and returning to work, forcing Shawn to work long hours and pick up a second job. Old tensions soon reignited. The couple never argued where Rebekah could hear but often fought behind closed doors. Katherine eventually gave in and returned to work when Rebekah was three, returning to office work while she studied for a real estate license.

In 2008, Shawn and Katherine divorced after Shawn discovered that Katherine had been sleeping with another man. Katherine and Shawn originally had evenly-divided custody of Rebekah, but Katherine’s real estate career escalated quickly due to her family connections. When Rebekah was six, she wandered off the playground while Katherine took a work call. She happily explored for an hour before she was found by the police, who gave her a teddy bear and reunited her with her terrified mother. After this, she wound up spending most of her time with Shawn. They settled into an every-third-week custody schedule when Rebekah was seven, and have maintained it ever since.

After the divorce, Shawn moved into a small duplex and settled into a job with the Salem Parks and Recreation department. He proved very competent and was soon promoted to overseeing the Salem Woods area. He occasionally had to bring Rebekah to work, leaving her in his work truck while he dealt with various issues in the park. Rebekah was fascinated with the woods. She always brought along the teddy bear, now named Puki, and passed the time telling him stories about the creatures that she imagined lived there. In her downtime, she read books and magazines, starting Ranger Rick and eventually graduating to National Geographic.

On Shawn’s days off, the two of them spent time hiking and exploring in the woods. Rebekah loved animals and carried a small notebook with her, in which she would make notes about any she spotted. Shawn taught her to respect animals and watch from a distance and showed her places off the beaten path. They usually capped off these days by sitting in the park, eating ice cream, and narrating the activities of other park visitors in horrible Steve Irwin accents. Rebekah came to enjoy viewing people this way, as though they are fascinating animals in a nature documentary. These hike days were the highlight of Rebekah’s childhood.

Katherine became a successful realtor and moved into an upscale apartment. Constantly shifting between there and her father’s duplex made Rebekah feel displaced. She didn’t feel that she belonged in either house. Her friends told her that she was lucky to have two birthdays and two Christmases, but Rebekah felt that having two of everything meant that neither felt real. She also didn’t like having to remember which essentials to pack every couple of weeks. The only constant was Puki, who always occupied the side pocket of her backpack.

In middle school, Rebekah learned the basics of poetry from an English teacher she liked, and it became an interest of hers. She showed the teacher some poems that she’d written, featuring people as nature documentary subjects. The teacher was impressed enough to recommend that she try submitting some poems to a popular youth literature contest. The teacher told her that if she did well, thousands of people might read what she wrote. Rebekah initially agreed to participate but found herself terrified by the idea of having so many strangers read her private thoughts, so she purposely missed the deadline. She still occasionally writes free verse and sonnets but mostly keeps them to herself. If she feels brave and likes a poem enough, she will submit them to the school paper anonymously.

Rebekah’s love of the woods continued to grow throughout her adolescence. Shawn had told her not to wander in the woods by herself, but on afternoons when Shawn worked late, Rebekah would get off the bus a few stops early and detour through familiar parts of the parkland on her way home. Shawn was very against letting her walk alone, but he relented after Rebekah agreed to take some classes in self-defense, and carry a whistle and small canister of bear spray in her pocket. Rebekah has taken an weekend-long IMPACT self-defense course every year, and completed several modules at SEPS Women's Self Defense in Boston; these courses are primarily focused on avoidance and empowerment, but have also trained her in a wide variety of escape techniques, as well as a number of effective strikes and kicks.

In high school, Rebekah tried out for the cheer team at her mother’s insistence. Katherine is a very detail-oriented person and is often highly critical of Rebekah's appearance and social life. Katherine had been a cheerleader in high school and was adamant that Rebekah join the squad. Rebekah agreed to try out, hoping that this concession would satisfy Katherine enough to keep her from interfering in other areas of her life. To her surprise, she made the squad. Katherine was mildly disappointed that Rebekah was given a base position, but Rebekah was relieved. She didn’t like being the focus of attention. She initially planned to drop out after her first year but was surprised to find that she enjoyed cheerleading. She liked the physical challenge, and she enjoys having a team to belong to. Rebekah enthusiastically participates in the cheer team’s activities and doesn't mind pitching in with extra tasks where she can to show support for the squad.

In her spare time, Rebekah mowed lawns to save up for a car. Over the summer, she took a job cutting grass at a local cemetery. She likes mowing because she gets paid to be outdoors and spend time alone with her thoughts. Most of her poems have since been composed while pushing or riding on a mower, and some of them have been inspired by sentiments that she's read on the gravestones. She loved the job and has done it for the last two years running. Rebekah studied for her driver’s test extensively and got her learner’s permit on her sixteenth birthday. Sixteen months later she got her Class D and used her summer savings to buy a beat-up 1996 Honda Civic. She likes the independence of being able to drive. She keeps a bag of essentials in the back, and Puki always sits buckled in the passenger seat.

In senior year, Rebekah's mother pressured her to try and get elected Homecoming Queen. Rebekah had absolutely no interest in doing so, due to her dislike of being singled out for attention and not wanting to take the crown away from her friends. In an attempt to sabotage her chances, she said that she would bring raccoons to homecoming if she was elected. To Rebekah's surprise and horror, this directly resulted in her winning the election.

Rebekah and Shawn still get along very well. He doesn’t understand the nuances of a teenage girl’s life, but he’s kind and supportive as much as he can be. He has recently tried to start dating again, with little success. Shawn still doesn’t like that Rebekah wanders in the woods by herself, and checks up to make sure that she’s staying current with self-defense, signing her up for courses twice a year. They still go hiking together when they can, although both of them are too busy to do it often. Rebekah finds it much harder to get along with Katherine. Her mother tends to be either overworked or uninterested; when she does pay attention to Rebekah, she’s usually criticizing her appearance or her lack of femininity. Rebekah has sought help from the other cheerleaders to become more fashionable so that she can get along better with Katherine. The results have been subpar, but she continues trying nonetheless.

Rebekah is an average student, better at English and Phys Ed than anything else, and pretty bad at math or science. She’s barely able to pass biology, since her personal enthusiasm doesn’t translate well to understanding the complex discipline. This is a source of personal disappointment for her. She purposely holds back on poetry assignments because she doesn't want to risk teachers calling attention to her. She also fears that others may be offended by her depictions of them, or that they may read her writing and form negative opinions about her as a person. In the pocket of her shirt she often carries a small notebook and pen, to jot down poem ideas or just doodle when she's bored. She also sometimes doodles on test papers and handouts.

Rebekah is quite friendly and sociable with individual people, but in group settings she tends to be quieter and doesn't like to draw attention to herself. She is not a very judgmental person and tends to be good-natured in conversations. She's not someone who initiates conversation easily, but she'll happily talk to anybody who talks to her. She is more intelligent than she lets on, and will intentionally play up her oddness if the situation requires it, and will usually attempt to defuse potential conflicts with silly observations or odd behavior. When confronted with uncomfortable thoughts, she will often force herself to think about animals or other things she enjoys, as a way of distancing herself.

She sees relationships as mostly transitory, and it takes her a long while to form trust in them. She also struggles to express affection verbally. She gets along very well with her fellow cheerleaders, and often joins them for group activities and sleepovers. She’s closest with Dani Bird, who gives her fashion advice. She also gets along well with kids she crosses paths with in the Salem Woods, such as Russell Fitzroy and Angelo Lee. She will often give kids from school advice about where to spot interesting birds, or how to avoid park rangers if they’re hanging out in the woods at night.

Because of her loyal nature, Rebekah can often be talked into doing things she wouldn't otherwise do. Rebekah is quite loyal to her friends, but she doesn't like to get involved in disagreements, or risk escalating conflicts; meaning that she won't intervene in spats between friends, but she will back them up if an outsider starts something. She will often go with the flow if she can and would rather ignore the source of a conflict than deal with the fallout of discussing it. Being elected homecoming queen terrified her, and caused her to feel that the other cheerleaders would resent her for taking something that should have been rightfully theirs. This has been a persistent fear of hers ever since it happened, and it still bothers her to this day.

Rebekah is a fairly independent person and doesn't like depending on others or asking for things, but she deeply appreciates any assistance or gifts she is given. She's kept every birthday card and present she has ever received. But if she feels betrayed or unwanted, it affects her deeply. It's hard to get on her bad side, but someone there will probably be there forever. She strongly dislikes cruelty towards animals or humans and will break from her usual passivity to call people out when she spots it.

Due to her independent nature, Rebekah has never been interested in dating. She has gone on individual informal dates but never been in a relationship. She's not aromantic and does find herself attracted to handsome or muscular guys, but she tends to take an abstract view of such things. As with most things, Rebekah thinks of romance in naturalistic terms, seeing it as a glorified mating ritual between animals. Between her parents and the kids at school, she’s seen enough breakup drama not to want any part of it. Rebekah often wears a minimal amount of makeup to fit in, but doesn’t regard herself as particularly attractive or desirable.

Rebekah isn't sure what she wants to be when she gets older, but she’s currently hoping to apply for a job with the Parks department. She’s also considering working at an animal shelter, but she’d prefer to be outdoors if she can. Rebekah is agnostic but feels like everything happens for a reason.

Advantages: Rebekah is very comfortable in outdoor environments, and has flexibility and agility from her cheerleading activities; both of these factors will play to her advantage when it comes to running or fighting outdoors. She is also well trained in self-defense escape techniques and disarming strikes, which could give her an edge against anyone who attacks her physically or with small handheld weapons.
Disadvantages: Rebekah is loath to ask for help from others, or depend on them; she is likely to try and remain independent well past the point where it would become a liability. Her odd behavior may also alienate people or cause them to mistrust her. If she winds up in the company of the few people she might trust, it will be easy for them to goad her into taking risks or making bad decisions.

Designated Number: Student No. 048

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Designated Weapon: Fleece Snuggie

Conclusion: Maybe she should have brought the raccoons to homecoming, then she wouldn't be in this situation. - Josie Knight